NEW PALESTINE — New Palestine ended one long losing streak and added to another.
The Dragons trailed by seven after the first quarter but outscored Mt. Vernon by 17 the rest of the way to defeat their Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals, 60-50, at New Palestine High School on Friday.
New Palestine hadn’t beaten Mt. Vernon since a 2014 victory in Fortville. It was the first win against the Marauders in New Palestine since 2013. The skid against the Marauders had reached five games, including two losses in 2018.
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Along with ending their losing streak, the Dragons extended Mt. Vernon’s season-long losing streak to six.
“We’d lost five straight and we know (Mt. Vernon) is a good team from them beating us in the sectional last year,” New Palestine senior guard Matthew True said. “We felt this was a revenge game for us against a good team.”
True was a big factor. He had three of New Palestine’s 10 3-point field goals, including one from NBA range in the third. He had two of the Dragons’ four third-quarter threes. They came on back-to-back possessions.
“I know my role is to shoot the ball,” True said. “When there is a hand down, I know it’s a good shot for me to take.”
Maximus Gizzi, Dylan Romine and Dawson Eastes all hit two treys. Eric Roudebush had the other.
“I thought they hit some amazing shots,” Mt. Vernon coach Ben Rhoades said. “It wasn’t horrible defense. They just hit some terrific shots and had a lot of different kids hit them.”
Four different Dragons scored in double figures. Romine led the way with 16. True scored 14. Gizzi and Eastes had 11 and 10, respectively.
Mt. Vernon senior Peyton Meadors led all scorers with 18. The Marauders had some hot shooting of their own, but they were unable to sustain it the entire contest.
Meadors hit two of the team’s four first-quarter 3-pointers as the Marauders led 16-9 after the first break.
“Give credit to New Palestine,” Meadors said. “They hit shots in the second half and True hit some big ones.”
Meadors, Cade Gentry and Keith Rupert all hit from long range in the first period. Gentry joined Meadors in double figures with 12.
“We sustained their barrage,” New Palestine coach Trent Whitaker said. “The end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, we executed the best we had all night.”
The win for the Dragons clinched second place in the HHC. New Palestine is 13-7 overall and finish league play 6-1. Mt. Vernon dropped to 8-10 and 4-2 in the conference.
Delta won the league with a 7-0 mark.
It was Mt. Vernon’s final road game of the season. They are looking to get back on track in Fortville. Of their six straight losses, three have come to teams ranked high in the state — 3A No. 1 Delta, 2A No. 2 Shenandoah and 4A No. 3 Lawrence Central. The other three (Noblesville, Mooresville and New Palestine) are against teams that came into Friday a combined 15 games over .500.
“The best thing about basketball is you get to play again tomorrow,” Meadors said. “We’ve gone through some adversity, but we want to come out (Saturday), play together and get a win.”
Both teams are in action tonight. Mt. Vernon welcomes Greenwood, while New Palestine will visit Whiteland. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.
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New Palestine 60, Mt. Vernon 50
Mt. Vernon;16;13;10;11;—;50
New Palestine;9;20;20;11;—;60
Mt. Vernon (8-10): Peyton Meadors 7 2-4 18, Cade Gentry 4 3-4 12, Keith Rupert 4 0-0 9, Eric Heard 0 0-0 0, Ryan Morris 1 4-4 6, Brandon Bell 1 0-1 2, Jacob Frank 1 0-0 3, Max Burhenn 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 9-13 50.
New Palestine (13-7): Maximus Gizzi 2 5-6 11, Matthew True 5 1-2 14, Maxen Hook 2 0-0 4, Eric Roudebush 1 0-0 3, Jack Walker 0 0-0 0, Dylan Romine 6 2-2 16, Dawson Eastes 4 0-0 10, Kyle King 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 8-10 60.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 5 (Meadors 2, Rupert, Gentry, Frank), New Palestine 10 (True 3, Gizzi 2, Romine 2, Eastes 2, Roudebush).
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